When people in Littlehampton--including conservative local, Edith--begin receiving letters full of hilarious profanities, the rowdy, Irish migrant, Rose, is charged with the crime. Suspectin... Read allWhen people in Littlehampton--including conservative local, Edith--begin receiving letters full of hilarious profanities, the rowdy, Irish migrant, Rose, is charged with the crime. Suspecting that something is amiss, the town's women investigate.When people in Littlehampton--including conservative local, Edith--begin receiving letters full of hilarious profanities, the rowdy, Irish migrant, Rose, is charged with the crime. Suspecting that something is amiss, the town's women investigate.
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Did you know
- TriviaBritain's first women police constables were employed in 1915; an important example of women showing they were capable of doing previously exclusive "men's work" during the First World War and not standing down afterwards.
- GoofsThe sound of the judge banging a gavel is heard several times in the courtroom scenes. In England only auctioneers use gavels; judges have never done so.
- Quotes
[to her daughter, looking at the words Die Slut on her door]
Rose Gooding: It's German.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Project: Episode dated 22 March 2024 (2024)
- SoundtracksCrazy Blues
Written by Perry Bradford
Published by Universal/MCA Music Ltd. on behalf of Universal Music Corp.
Performed by Noble Sissle with Eubie Blake
Courtesy of Document Records
Licence by arrangement with Fine Gold Music
As Edith Swan (Oscar winner Olivia Colman) and her elder parents Edward (Timothy Spall) and Victoria (Gemma Jones) gather around the table to read the anonymous profanity-laced letter, we learn it's the 19th one received by Edith. The decision is made to contact Constable Papperwick (Hugh Skinner, FALLING FOR FIGARO), who is quick to accept as fact their presumption that the letters' source is neighbor Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). See, the Swan's are a God-fearing family (and quick to advertise the fact), while Rose is an Irish immigrant and single mom with a loud mouth ... one often filled with colorful curse words. It's little wonder holier-than-thou Edith's accusations are believed while denials from rough-around-the-edges Rose are dismissed.
"Female" Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan, CYRANO, 2021) is the only one who notices the massive inconsistencies in the "evidence", and sets out to investigate. This, of course, goes against the wishes of the police captain, and overall dismissal from fellow officers since she is such an oddity as a female officer. Moss is following in her father's footsteps with the badge, and has more instinct and powers of observation than the others ... especially Papperwick, who is clueless and arrogant.
As Edith finds pleasure in the notoriety, Moss enlists help from a couple of community ladies who don't buy into the Swan's pious attitude. The film's best line is, "Congratulations on your tragedy." These women, played beautifully by Joanna Scanlan (AFTER LOVE, 2020) and Eileen Atkins ("Doc Martin") devise a strategy to catch the true culprit in the act. Of course, most if not all viewers will have solved the case long before the police or jury do, but that won't lessen the enjoyment of watching the drama play out, sometimes with a dash of humor.
The 1923 Poison Pen scandal of Littlehampton was a real thing, with court case and all. The film makes a point of the Patriarchal society in place at the time (the onset of the Suffragette movement), and it helps us gain an understanding of Edith and Officer Moss, as well as the quick-to-judge folks so easily accepting Rose's guilt. I probably enjoyed this a bit more than many since I'm a big fan of both Colman and Buckley, who also co-starred together in THE LOST DAUGHTER. Timothy Spall reminds us that few can chew scenery like he, and the other familiar English actors all do their part. Those creative and sometimes confusing epithets (more likely to result in chuckles than anger) were taken from the actual letters in the case, and Ms. Colman's cackle at the end is itself worthy of a ticket price.
The film opens in theaters on April 5, 2024.
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- Also known as
- Мерзенні посланнячка
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,008,179
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $76,654
- Mar 31, 2024
- Gross worldwide
- $27,024,623
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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